China's Xi Jinping Welcomes 'Old Friend' Bill Gates in Beijing
09:34 GMT 16.06.2023 (Updated: 09:35 GMT 16.06.2023)
© AFP 2023 / LUDOVIC MARIN
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The visit to China by US billionaire Bill Gates comes in the wake of a foray to the manufacturing hub of his electric vehicle firm by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, along with a spate of stopovers by other tech leaders, like Apple CEO Tim Cook, and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.
US billionaire Bill Gates met with China’s leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday.
"On June 16, President Xi Jinping met the American Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-chairperson Bill Gates in Beijing," Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.
"You are the first American friend I have met in Beijing this year. We have always placed our hopes on the American people, and hoped for continued friendship between the peoples of the two countries," Xi reportedly told Gates.
Gates was cited as saying he was "very honoured to have this chance to meet".
Screenshot of Twitter post by Hua Chunying, China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson.
© Photo : Twitter
The Microsoft co-founder is believed to have last met with the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2015, on the sidelines of the Boao forum for Asia in Hainan province. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, Xi sent a message of gratitude to Gates after the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged some $5 million-worth of assistance to China for the fight against the coronavirus.
Gates, who is currently worth $118.6B as per Forbes, landed in Beijing for the first time since 2019 on Wednesday. He went on Twitter to say he was "excited to visit with partners who have been working on global health and development challenges with his Gates Foundation for more than 15 years."
Screenshot of Twitter post by Bill Gates, Cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
© Photo : Twitter
The philanthropist, who underscored that innovation was vital to address challenges related to everything from health and climate change, to food insecurity, voiced conviction that he would find such innovation in China. Bill Gates met with Beijing’s mayor Yin Yong to discuss a partnership with China on drug discovery, and addressed a gathering at the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI).
“China has made significant gains reducing poverty and improving health outcomes within China. China can play an even bigger role in addressing the current challenges, particularly those facing African countries,” Gates said at the institute that was jointly founded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Tsinghua University and Beijing Municipal Government in 2016.
The Gates Foundation announced a $50 million donation over the next five years into the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute on Thursday, in collaboration with Beijing’s municipal government, which will similarly invest $50 million to support "efforts to improve health outcomes worldwide through lifesaving therapies for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, which disproportionately affect the world's poorest", as per the the Gates Foundation statement.
Gates enthused over “brilliant” Chinese researchers and hailed the Asian powerhouse's efforts to "reduce poverty", insisting that it can "play an even bigger role in addressing the current challenges, particularly those facing African countries.”
14 June 2023, 16:39 GMT
'Win' Over Musk
The visit by Bill Gates to China comes against the backdrop of spriralling geopolitical tensions that have brought Washington-Beijing ties to one of their lowest points in decades. However, the world's second-largest economy has been making efforts to attract foreign investors to reinvigorate the economy post-lockdowns. A flurry of stopovers have been made in China by tech bosses. Apple CEO Tim Cook was in the country to attend the China Development Forum.The CEO of CEO of JPMorgan Chase, America's largest bank in terms of assets, Jamie Dimon, also recently went to China.
Most recently, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk visited China, meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, and vowing that his electric carmaker would continue to expand operations in the world's largest EV market. At this point it is worth noting that the China visits feed into the rivalry between Gates and Musk.
The owner of Twitter met in person with three senior government officials: China's foreign, commerce and industry ministers, and reportedly conferred with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang." However, Bill Gates scored a major win over the South African-born American entrepreneur by wecuring a sit-down with the Chinese leader, Xi Jingping.
"It is worth noting that on my recent trip to China I went to senior leadership there. I think we had some very productive discussions on artificial intelligence risks, and the need for some oversight or regulation," Elon Musk said on Twitter Spaces on June 5.
31 May 2023, 13:04 GMT
The two tech gurus who have been vying for the role of the world's richest man (according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Elon Musk recently regained the title, surpassing LVMH's Bernard Arnault) have been recently verbally sparring on Twitter. Musk slammed the fellow billionaire for holding a short position on Tesla shares worth around $2 billion.
Screenshot of Twitter post by Elon Musk.
© Photo : Twitter
After a series of viral exchanges, in an interview with a French YouTuber, Gates spoke of his record on climate change philanthropy and questioned the benefit of electric vehicles. In response, Musk tweeted, 'Sigh."
Twitter screenshot.
© Photo : Twitter
Screenshot of Twitter post by Elon Musk.
© Photo : Twitter
